A Common Sense approach to understanding All Hallows’ Eve
Hal-low: to make holy or sacred; to sanctify, consecrate, to regard or honor as holy
So how did we get ghosts and gobblins, scary, blood-curdling screams, witches, toilet-papered houses, and bags and bags of candy out of that?
In England, saints or holy people were called "hallowed", hence the name "All Hallows’ Day". The evening, or "e'en" before the feast became popularly known as "All Hallows' Eve" or even shorter, "Hallowe'en".
In the Catholic Church, November 1st is All Saints Day. It is a solemnity, a holyday of obligation and the day that the Church honors all of God's saints, those who have been canonized by the Church, as well as the multitude of saints in the “Cloud of Witnesses” who have gone on before us. It is a family day of celebration — we celebrate the memory of our family members and all those who are the Communion of Saints now sharing eternal happiness in the presence of God. We rejoice that they have reached their eternal goal and ask their prayers on our behalf so that we, too, may join them in heaven and praise God through all eternity.
Catholic Culture explains “All Hallows’ Eve” now known as “Halloween” this way: Many recipes and traditions began for the evening, "All Hallows’ Eve" such as pancakes, boxty bread and boxty pancakes, barmbrack (Irish fruit bread with hidden charms), colcannon (combination of cabbage and boiled potatoes). This was also known as "Nutcrack Night" in England, where the family gathered around the hearth to enjoy cider and nuts and apples. In England "soul cakes" are another traditional food. People would go begging for a "soul cake" and promise to pray for the donor's departed friends and family in exchange for the treat, an early version of today's "Trick or Treat."
Now, how do we try and make sense out of honoring saints on this special day, yet the evening before we allow our kids to dress up like witches and vampires and stuff themselves with candy? How do we set the bar for our children in a modern culture that knows no boundries and where Satanism is a very real thing? In today’s world, it gets harder and harder to be in the world but not of the world, as the Bible calls us to be.
But all is not lost. Our church has dealt with paganism from the beginning of Christianity. All through the centuries the Church has taken secular feasts and tried to "sanctify" or "Christianize" them. Pagan practices such as alters to unknown gods, became sancitified as christianity spread, all the way from the Greeks in St. Paul’s day to the feast day of All Saints which came from the dedication of the Pantheon, a pagan temple, into a Christian church. Even today, missionaries have to be able to find some elements in the culture of the people they are trying to convert that can help these people identify and understand Christianity at their level.
Like the church that leads us, we must learn to balance the good with the bad that surrounds us. This is not only how we thrive, but also how we convert, and how we teach our children. It’s also called “moderation”. Some of the practices of Halloween are innocent fun and some deal with healthy reminders of death, sin and the devil. Some parts of Halloween can be extreme, so we have to be cautious. All Saints Day and All Souls Day (November 2nd) feasts are back-to-back,
so we can balance some of the focus of Halloween with the Communion of Saints in action. We combine honoring the saints in heaven, remembering our loved ones and then earn graces for our own souls by prayer and actions. Through this approach we see the Mystical Body of Christ in action.
Modern day “trick or treating” in itself is not harmful if we use our common sense and teach our children to do the same. We are, after all, trying to raise little “hallowed saints - not vampires and devils!
Happy Halloween
And
Happy All Saints Day
~Gwen of IRISH ACRES